Strategic Planning...
Those words “strategic planning” sound exciting, important, cool…okay well at least to me they do. 😁 They can also sound intimidating, for the “big companies” only, hard to do… 😑
There are two reasons that many people feel that “strategic planning” is tough to do. First, there are so many ways to think about strategy.
There is no clear definition - just check out Merriam Webster’s definition of strategy.
Everyone uses the term differently, you can find strategy at the beginning of a model, middle of the model, on the side of the model….
And in some cases a model for strategic planning can get very complex (see below).
Second, many companies are not actually strategic, they tend to be reactive or grab at opportunities when they pop up. Which is certainly one way to run a business - but this also causes overwhelm, no boundaries and anxiety because the way forward isn’t clear.
So what do you do?
Shift Your Mindset
Your strategic plan answers the question: How will we succeed?
An organization’s strategy is nothing more than the collection of intentional decisions a company makes to give itself the best chance to thrive and differentiate itself from competitors. – Patrick Lencioni
A strategic plan does not have to be a complicated plan within a plan. It should be part of your plan.
For our BWC Way of Working (WoW) system, strategies support your vision (purpose, values and future goal). You then break your strategies down into your yearly goals, monthly priorities, etc.
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keep your Strategies simple
When your strategies are part of your plan - they should be easy to understand, easy to remember and actionable. Like Patrick Lencioni’s Strategic Anchors from The Advantage, we recommend only having 3 key strategies. Ours are:
It’s all about the experience - for our members, our team and our partners
Strong delivery of the experience - making sure we have solid tools, Facilitators, etc.
Build the community - from the community for the community - using PEERpower to learn, grow and support each other
These three strategies are simple to remember and can be used any time. As an example, when trying to decide whether or not to do Vizcasts, we ran it through our strategies.
Does it deliver a good experience? Yes - can be watched or listened to on your own time, easy to digest and focused on relevant topics.
Can we deliver the experience well? Yes - we can use available technology to put together a good product that is easily accessible.
Does it help build the community? Yes - our guests are experts in our community sharing their skills and knowledge with other members of the broader community.
Again - simple - easy to understand, easy to remember and actionable.
ensure everyone uses the strategies
Strategies don’t change often - unless your market or business model changes. Which is great for consistency and building it into your culture.
Your strategies should be used by EVERYONE. Like the example above, strategies help make decisions about our business: what will we focus on, where we will invest our resources and what will we spend our energy on in our day to day work.
To help everyone use them, the BWC WoW system makes your strategies your team’s priorities, which:
Empowers your team
Tells them what is strategically important
Them make decisions
Gives them autonomy
Using your strategies this way help manage the overwhelm and anxiety of a small business. They provide guidance to all members of your team and help establish what is in or out of bounds so to speak.
Use your strategies to say “no”
Which leads us to what is probably the hardest thing for most companies. There is always an opportunity - the shiny stuff that we love. 🤩 So it can be hard to say “NO”
Yes, there may be times when you have to make a short-term decision that won’t support your strategies - but it should be a rare exception and based on a solid review of why you decided the way you did.
Just remember - anything outside of your strategy will pull your energy, time and focus away from what you have identified as important to your success.
set them and review frequently
What is the cadence for reviewing strategies? Once your strategies are set, here is a recommended process.
Formally:
Quarterly Review - check to make sure your strategies are being used to guide you well (and if a larger team - consistent across the company) and addressing any issues that have been identified.
Annually - before your annual planning meeting, do a review of the strategies and determine if you need to shift any of your goals you identified for the year to come. This may require some extra research, financial analysis, etc. which is why we recommend it happens before your annual planning.
Informally - use them every day…
Strategic planning doesn’t have to be hard and isn’t reserved for large companies. Strategic planning can in fact become a part of your culture, helping to set boundaries, lessen overwhelm and working on your plan for success.
